Authors

1 Paula Silva Roque, 2 Alexandre Costa, 3 Cristiane Aparecida Silveira Monteiro, 4 Andressa Fernanda Silva

Position

1 Enfermeira. Pontifícia Universidade Católica de Minas Gerais Campus Poços de Caldas. Departamento de Enfermagem. Poços de Caldas. Minas Gerais. Brasil. 2 Filósofo. Doutor em Bioética. Professor Assistente IV da Pontifícia Universidade Católica de Minas Gerais Campus Poços de Caldas. Departamento de Ciências da Religião. Poços de Caldas. Minas Gerais. Brasil. 3 Phd. Professor e Coordenador do Curso de Enfermagem. Universidade Federal de Alfenas. 4 Enfermeira. Mestre e Doutoranda em Ciências da Saúde. Escola de Enfermagem de Ribeirão Preto, Universidade de São Paulo, Centro Cola

Contact email: andressa.fernanda18@hotmail.com

Abstract

Introduction: an advance directive (AD) is a document including a prior statement allowing an individual to express what he/she wants to be/not to be done if he/she has an incurable disease.
Purpose: to investigate the perception of knowledge on AD among undergraduate nursing students, as well as to characterize their profile and their knowledge about AD.
Method: this is an exploratory, descriptive, cross-sectional study with a qualitative and quantitative approach, which was performed in a private university at Minas Gerais, Brazil. The study complied with ethic requirements for investigation in human beings and was approved by the Committee on Ethics in Research. A semi-structured tool was used and 21 undergraduate students attending or having attended a course on "Bioethics Legislation and Nursing" were interviewed in the final nursing year. Content analysis was carried out according to Bardin's approach.
Results: most young, white, female, and Christian participants did understand that both implementation and removal of useless therapeutic measures are justifiable. Only four participants (19.0%) knew how to define AD, and the factor with the highest influence on their perception of AD was the religious one. The following categories emerged: patient's autonomy, conflict between the relatives' will and patient's will, and fears and doubts.
Conclusion: university nursing students have a limited knowledge of AD, and show a number of conflicts and dilemmas, particularly regarding religious aspects and education.

Keywords:

palliative care; advance directives; bioethics; personal autonomyfemale and male nurses

Versión en Español

Título:

DIRETIVAS ANTECIPADAS DA VONTADE: PERCEPÇÃO E CONHECIMENTO ENTRE GRADUANDOS EM ENFERMAGEM

Bibliography